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Expressionism in film
Expressionism in art |
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| The archetypal Expressionist film is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1919), directed by Robert Wiene. A horror story involving sleepwalking, madness, murder, and sexual threat, the film is best known for its sets and scenery. Designed by the Expressionist Bauhaus art school, the sets are distorted, artificial, shadowy, and disorienting. |
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| Expressionist elements (particularly sinister plots, horrific events, and chiaroscuro lighting, are found in German cinema throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. The stills below are from M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang. (Hitchcock used the star of M, Peter Lorre, in two of his British thrillers of the late 1930s.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The influence of Expressionism can be seen throughout Hitchcock's career, particularly in films shot in black and white. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Lodger (1927), based on Jack the Ripper
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Strangers on a Train (1950)
Devouring shadow, obviously influenced by Lang's M (right) |
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I Confess (1953)
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The Wrong Man (1957)
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